World Refugee Day: At Parkdale, Staff Rising to Syrian Newcomer Challenge
Photo: John Rennison, The Hamilton Spectator
By ROB FAULKNER
Starting school can be hard. Starting school after fleeing your country as part of an unprecedented global refugee crisis… that’s hard to imagine.
But for new students at 40 HWDSB schools this year, it has become a reality. Since January, the Board has welcomed 424 Syrian newcomer students. Wesley Urban Ministries and the YMCA’s Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) programs, have been key partners in supporting Syrian newcomer youth, families and schools.
The entire process has led to some incredible learning experiences. Take Parkdale elementary, for example.
At Parkdale, 13 newcomers arrived in Kindergarten, 10 of these in one Full-Day Kindergarten class. This bumped the class size above 15, so an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) joined the classroom teacher. The staff team continued to grow when challenges arose.
Some of the newcomer students wouldn’t leave their parents for the day; they tried to run away from school; they climbed fences; they hoarded snacks and toys after living through deprivation.
“They were scared and didn’t know the language, and they also didn’t understand that this was a permanent situation,” English as a Second Language teacher Beth Woods said. “They were running, crying and we had the principal in the classroom permanently.”
HWDSB serves a diverse community of learners and has extensive supports for English language learners. A full 22 per cent of our students speak a language other than English at home; Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian and Spanish are the five largest linguistic groups.
At Parkdale, the staff team in that Kindergarten class soon totalled five people: teacher, ECE, ESL teacher, Principal and an Educational Assistant (EA), sometimes more than one EA.
Even then, when a half dozen or more four- and five-year-olds are climbing fences trying to escape a school yard, even a five-person team doesn’t feel like enough.
“That’s when we talked as a Board about the issues. And Sharon (Stephanian, a Superintendent) asked how we would like to have an ECE who spoke Arabic – and we said ‘Yes, we sure would!’” Woods said.
That’s when Rim Nassif arrived. Nassif, an ECE on the supply list, is from Syria and speaks the country’s Arabic dialect. Her own children experienced some settlement challenges in Canada.
“When Rim arrived, there was a dramatic difference,” said Woods, explaining that Rim was fine with this story but did not wish to be interviewed or photographed.
One boy, who wouldn’t come to school, couldn’t express his problem until Nassif arrived. It turns out that a young classmate had taken a toy and, as a result, he felt that he had no friends at school.
The boys who had been yelling “Mama” every day at noon as a signal to start escaping over the fence began to understand the rules about staying at school all day.
“Rim started singing to them in Arabic and reading to them in Arabic, translating the English books,” Woods said. “We started to see the students taking a much greater interest in the books in the classroom.”
The newcomer kids are now more willing to leave their parents and spend a full day at school. Their mothers sit in the playground at lunch and speak with Nassif; other students join in, even if they can’t understand the Arabic conversations.
“Rim has been so powerful that way and families identify with her,” Woods said. “We are realizing that the top priority isn’t Kindergarten in many cases, but we can put families in touch with other supports.”
Woods and Nassif are now a Syrian newcomer transition team. They spend a lot of time at Parkdale but also travel across HWDSB to speak with newcomers about the Kindergarten program and school basics like backpacks and Velcro shoes. It’s having an impact.
When a three-year-old boy at one orientation session tried to take home the toys from the play table, Woods was happy they could send him home with his own bag of goodies including Play-Doh.
“I have learned so much,” said Woods, referring to both her work with newcomers and what she has learned from Nassif about Syrian. She has a deeper understanding of how her colleague, Nassif, misses her beautiful country and feels like it was taken from its people. Today, Nassif’s memories of open-air restaurants and fresh orange juice compete with the bombing she hears when she talks to her sister there on the phone.
At Parkdale, Principal Sandra Constable says the arrival of newcomers was quick and unexpected. But she wasn’t surprised when her staff went above and beyond to ensure student safety and a successful transition.
“I am overwhelmed with happiness when I see these kids in their classes now,” Constable said on June 20, which is World Refugee Day. “They are settled and thriving; they are building relationships and friendships we hope they will have forever.”
The Parkdale community has rallied to help their new neighbours, and donations from parents and staff have included clothing, household items and food. The change among the newcomer families has been similarly dramatic.
“One of our newcomer mothers cried the first few days that her son and daughter started school in March,” Constable recalled.
Last week, when the same woman found out that Constable would be moving schools in September, the mother used a few of the English words she had learned during her short time in Canada.
“Mrs. Constable, thank you, I love you!”
Updated on Thursday, June 23, 2016.